Tuesday PFF and Salguero study of Carlina game

It's metrics day at Dolphins In Depth and as every Tuesday our partners at ProFootballFocus.com drop knowledge from the last game on the blog, let's get right to it.

As always the folks at PFF tell you what they saw from their tape study. I add insight an opinion where I can.

Offense

Each member of the offensive line received a negative grade for the game, with left tackle Bryant McKinnie (-4.2) receiving the lowest and Sam Brenner and Nate Garner (-1.3) getting the highest grades.

Salguero: Sam Brenner and Nate Garner received the highest grades? So the two guys who were either backups or on the practice squad played the best among all the Dolphins offensive linemen? This line is going to be an offseason reconstruction project.

G David Arkin took the first four professional snaps of his career when Sam Brenner left briefly with an injury.

Salguero: Arkin, signed the first week of November, was active ahead of former Eagles first-round pick Danny Watkins. Watkins joined the club in October. He was inactive Sunday. Enough said.

Due to running back Daniel Thomas’ ankle injury, Lamar Miller played a season high 54 snaps.

Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 3-for-7 on throws of 20-plus yards down the field for 136 yards. When blitzed, Tannehill went 5-for-8 with 59 yards. He took one sack.

Dion Jordan played a season high 33 snaps, including 10 snaps dropping into coverage, also a season high.

Salguero: Well, it's not what fans want because it still shows the No. 3 overall pick is a part-time player. But defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle promised more work for Jordan and the player got it. Look for continued advancement in this area as the season winds down. This stat, by the way, suggests coaches are seeing progress and trusting Jordan more. Fans, I suspect, did that a while back.

OLB Philip Wheeler had six stops, tying his season high, and had his highest graded game in pass coverage this season (+2.9).

Salguero: Coyle said he was very pleased with Wheeler's performance and now you have the metrics to prove it.

Cameron Wake didn’t have a sack, but did record 7 hurries, his highest number of the season.

Salguero: He also hit Cam Newton in the mouth during the first quarter and the Carolina quarterback was caught on camera spitting out blood.

Cornerback Nolan Carroll gave up just four catches on 12 targets, including holding former Dolphin Ted Ginn to one catch on seven targets when in coverage against him.

Salguero: Good news for Carroll because he's going to be the target of much attention come the division games against New York, Buffalo and, of course, New England. Those teams have shown a desire to pick on Carroll in the past. It's good news for him he had a confidence building game.

Cornerback Brent Grimes had one of his worst days of the season, allowing seven catches for 72 yards on nie targets. Steve Smith caught five of six targets for 69 yards on Grimes.

Salguero: Smith also had the big catch on fourth-and-10 in the fourth quarter against Grimes, who also missed the tackle along with Chris Clemons. Tough day.